A Sneak Peek at an Old Habit
by DragonyPhoenix
Summary: Everyone knows that Xander and Spike recite poetry to each other.


For the two lovers, the room where they speak, touch, and kiss before the fire, has become the whole of the world.

"night shines like lightning

under the fingers of my love," Xander whispers.

"my love invents worlds where

jeweled glittering serpents live," Spike replies.

* * *

Creeping down the castle halls after Dawn, Willow whispers, "Just where are we going?"

"Shh!" Dawn hushes, turning to put a finger over Willow's mouth, before circling back with a panicked expression and peering into the dark room. For all that Dawn had matured into a graceful woman, this sneaking about reminded Willow of the girl she'd been ten years ago, before Sunnydale had been destroyed.

Dawn, placing a finger over her own mouth, gestures for Willow to join her in the doorway.

"Waft cocoa, hazelnut, cinnamon,

scents around me," they hear.

"Is that Xander?" Willow asks. Dawn gives her a glaring glance before turning back to the room.

As Spike quotes the next line, his eyes flashed golden.

"Tremble with me

in paralyzing pauses."

Dawn turns and gestures Willow back down the hallway. Over their tiptoes, they hear Xander.

"I may no longer breathe

without breathing you."

Dawn won't let Willow speak until they make it all the way down to the kitchen.

"Renee," Dawn squeals, bouncing into the brightly lit room. "Care to join us for hot cocoa?"

Tossing her brown, wavy hair back with a smile, the Slayer asks, "You haven't been peeking in on Xander and Spike again, have you? They do deserve a little privacy."

"They get tons of privacy. I haven't looked in on them in weeks, I'll have you know," Dawn replies. Besides, Willow's never..."

"Gotten a chance to spy on her best friend and his lover?" Buffy asks, walking in behind them.

"How'd you know?" Dawn mutters.

"Saw you sneaking back," Buffy replies. While Buffy and Willow hug, Dawn pours milk into a pan, adding hot chocolate and sugar.

"They do not get any privacy," Renee said once the hug fest had broken up. "Slayers sneak in to peek on them all the time."

"As long Xander doesn't know, who cares? It's not like Spike really minds," Dawn says as she pulls spices off the rack.

"It is good training, for the newer Slayers, to see if they can sneak up on Spike," Buffy says. "Oh no you don't," she adds, taking the ginger and white pepper away from Dawn and putting them back on the spice rack. "Cinnamon only." To Dawn's pleading eyes she relents with, "Maybe some nutmeg and a bit of vanilla but that's it."

"Nobody can sneak up on Spike," Renee replies to Buffy's earlier comment. "No Buffy, not even you," she adds, seeing the Senior Slayer is about to protest.

"Hey, I can sneak up on Spike," Buffy exclaims.

"How long before he flashed golden eyes at you last time you tried?" Renee asks.

"That doesn't mean he saw me and was warning me off. He could have just been..." Buffy trails off.

"Shifting into vamp face for no good reason?" Dawn finishes for her.

"Does somebody mind explaining all this to me?" Willow asks.

"Duh," Buffy replies mischievously. "Xander and Spike, reciting poetry. What's the big?"

Ignoring Buffy's teasing, Willow asks, "Do they do that a lot? And just how long has this been going on?"

"Not every night but often enough that I figured there'd be a good chance we'd catch them at it," Dawn replies.

"Almost four years," Buffy adds.

"Four years? And I've never heard about this before because..." Willow asks.

"Hey, if your going to spend all your time off in magical dimensions, you're going to miss some stuff here in the real world," Dawn replies.

"Not just poetry but love poems," Willow muses. "How'd that happen?"

"Angel told Xander that Spike used to write poetry, back when he was a human, which means I should have said William wrote poetry..." Dawn starts to say.

"Dawn, I can still out babble you any day of the week. Get to the point," Willow interrupts.

"That is the point. Xander found out about the poetry and now they recite it to each other," Renee answers as she opens up a cabinet and pulls out four cups.

"Spike went on the warpath when he found out," Dawn adds. "He was all ready to fly back to LA. Was even threatening to kill Angel, which of course he'd never do, for ruining his tough guy image. Xander memorized some poems and took him away for a romantic weekend. They've been reciting poetry to each other ever since. Pretty amazing, huh?"

"Yeah," Buffy nods in agreement. "Who'd have thought Xander would memorize poetry?"

"In front of the fire," Willow muses.

"Spike gets cold here in Scotland," Buffy says.

"He keeps pushing for him and Xander to be assigned to Spain but Xander's needed here and won't leave," Dawn replies.

"Ah, that's just Spike teasing, about Spain and all. He likes it here well enough," Renee adds as she starts to pour out the hot cocoa.

"In a darkened room, lit by candlelight," Willow says quietly, almost to herself.

"Do you want to go back and look again?" Dawn suggests, bouncing in her seat.

"Drink you cocoa," Renee orders, handing over a mug, "and leave the boys alone."

"No marshmallows?" Buffy asks with a tragic expression.

* * *

"My hands," Spike whispers.

"invent another body for your body," Xander replies.

As the fire crackles, they hold each other closely, content to let the silence speak.


End file.
